In a conversation with The Huffington Post on Friday, Chris Moody, a senior digital correspondent at CNN and the video's creative director, said the parody was the brainchild of Eric Weisbrod, a digital producer, who thought it'd be an interesting way to incorporate the absurd number of players in a presidential election into one video.

Indeed, nearly every conceivable candidate makes an appearance, in addition to strategists, Super PAC donors and political players of every other stripe.

"All of the b-roll from cheesy political ads ... are almost taken right out of '90s sitcoms," Moody said. "If you look at old ads, it's families smiling at each other and smiling at the camera. It just fit so nicely."

CNN opted to swap the gore of the original video's climax for other confounding imagery from the political world. Let's just say Vladimir Putin makes a (shirtless) appearance, as well as Raul Castro, Kim Jong Un and plenty of others.

Unfortunately, there's no Smarf in CNN's video:

Though in a partial victory, Demon Sheep does make the final cut:

Will we see more of this type of thing from CNN?

"I don't know how much we'll do videos exactly like this, but we'll have to see. We'll take it as it goes, and if someone on the team has a really good idea that can resonate and also tell a story... I think we'll certainly look at it." Moody emphasized: "Our primary mission is still breaking news."

Sadly, Moody couldn't confirm whether the video would see any airtime on CNN.

Also on HuffPost:

Faces Of CNN

Faces Of CNN

1

of

21

Anderson Cooper

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 21: Anderson Cooper speaks during a rehearsal before a taping of Jeopardy! Power Players Week at DAR Constitution Hall on April 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images)